Revelation 2:4-5

“Because thine heart was tender” (2 Kings 22:19). We have already considered the circumstances and significance of these words last month. Let us now proffer a few remarks upon how a tender heart may be preserved. This is a matter of great importance, for though such a most desirable possession be o... Read More

"Despise not thou the chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou are rebuked of him" (HEBREWS 12:5). It is of first importance that we learn to draw a sharp distinction between Divine punishment and Divine chastisement - important for maintaining the honour and glory of God, and for the peace of min... Read More

By the way of introduction let us bring before the reader the following Scriptures: 1. “Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life” (John 5:40). 2. “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). 3. “No man can come to Me, except the Father which... Read More

PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY Part 2: Progress in the Christian Life Chapter 5 SLEEPY SAINTS What an anomaly! Drowsing on the verge of eternity! A Christian is one who, in contrast to the unregenerate, has been awakened from the sleep of death in trespasses and sins, made to realize the unspeakable awfulne... Read More

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." Let us begin this chapter by continuing our consideration of the acknowledgment of the prayer. It is to be reca... Read More

We come now to an apostolic prayer the contents of which, as a whole, are very sublime. Its contents are remarkably full, and a careful study of, and devout meditation upon, it shall be richly repaid. My present task will be rendered the easier since I am making extensive use of Thomas Goodwin’s exc... Read More

Having considered in the two previous chapters the supplicant, setting, Object, and plea of this prayer, let us now contemplate, fifthly, its petition: "the God of all grace… make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you." The proper force of the Greek grammar would make the petition read like ... Read More

The prayer that is now to engage our attention is a particularly arresting one, but its beauty and blessedness appear even more conspicuously when it is examined in connection with its somber background. It concludes the most solemn Epistle in the New Testament, one that is to be read with fear and ... Read More

Spiritual Growth 10. Its Decline I First, its nature. That which we are here to be concerned with is what some writers term "backsliding"—a lucid and expressive word that is not employed so often as it should be or once was. Like most other theological terms this one has been made the occasion of no... Read More

Spiritual Growth 4. Its Nature I We have now arrived at what is really the most important part of our subject, but which is far from being the easiest to handle. If we are to be preserved or delivered from erroneous views at this point it is very necessary that we should form a right concept of what... Read More